She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named
by PotterGatsbyHolmes
Summary: Ooohh Sirius is in looove...but how long can he keep it secret from his friends, and more importantly, the rest of the school? With only a portrait of Newt Scamander to keep quiet, things look pretty good for Black and his Hufflepuff girl, Felicity Finlas (yes I made her up), but will the war tear them apart? (Set sometime before they joined the OotP/ TRYING not to be sappy)
1. Chapter 1

**She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named**

**This is my first Harry Potter Fanfic so: "I'm sorry." in advance, just in case it sucks or I offend anybody **** Felicity Finlas is in no way an incarnation of me - I cannot state that clearer. I do not own Harry Potter (if I did I would not be typing on my school laptop, but possibly on a giant Mac screen…in space) – all of the lovely characters (apart from Felicity) were created by JK Rowling *bows down and worships that magnificent woman*. ON WITH THE SHOW.**

Sirius snickered mischievously at the soft black fur that was slowly spreading across his best friends face and the white row of smiling teeth behind it. "Look, Padfoot! I'm you!" James giggled. Sirius gave another wave of his wand towards the top of his 'opponent's' head and grinned. "Nah," he said, "I'm much better looking." With that a pair of fluffy black ears appeared on James followed by a scruffy looking tail. Professor McGonagall meandered past and nodded approvingly at the long haired sixth year. "Well done, Black," she murmured, thick accent brilliantly apparent. Her eyes surveyed James with a look that practically shouted Sirius was her favourite student. Sirius smirked, knowing she would never admit it. A loud, clear ringing signalled the end of the schooling day and he restored James to his 'former glory'. Remus and Peter caught up with them at the door and arranged to finish their homework (essays on the different woods used for wands) in the Common Room; but Sirius hesitated in the doorway. He had other plans. "Sirius? Are you coming?" James turned to see him staring into space, a troubled look on his face. He couldn't keep this up for much longer, and he hated keeping secrets from the rest of them. "I've got to see Professor Sprout about the paper on Moly that's due." he said, rather smoothly, he thought. "I'll see you all later, ok?" He turned on his heel and strode in the direction of the Greenhouses before they even had a chance to reply.

Felicity Finlas was no ordinary Hufflepuff. She was a witch; a half-blood (her father was a wizard, her mother a florist) and she had rather strong predisposition for the taste of honey and the colour yellow. But it was not really any of these particular things that made her interesting. It was something in the way she spoke, walked, and lived. Something about her made people feel as if everything was good and everything was golden. And boy, did everybody need that now, she thought sadly. Felicity looked to the sky from the ground floor window and the oncoming storm clouds that growled in the distance, like a cruel grey beast that refused to relent. She sighed and turned her back to the darkness. Hope fluttered faintly in her chest, ever present. "It'll be okay…" she whispered to herself. "You bet." a deep voice muttered from within the shadows. Felicity's heart skipped a beat as the tall figure stepped towards her. It lifted its shaggy head to reveal a grin that would make an Augrey's heart melt. She ran headlong towards Sirius and leaped, ending with her being caught into a bone-crushing hug. The movement was so fluid it was as if it had been executed a thousand times. She buried her face into the dark mane of hair that framed Sirius' face and she felt him nuzzle into hers. They stood there like that for a while, the afternoon sun edging towards the shadows in which Sirius had previously hidden.

James surveyed the Common Room with an uncomfortable, nagging feeling in his stomach. Sirius had been gone a lot longer than was strictly necessary for the short errand of asking about some trees. Peter had gone to bed some hours ago (he wasn't feeling well) and Remus to the Library (again). After James found the absence of his best friend at its strangest and most absurd, he finally took out the map their group had fashioned; his most prized possession: The Marauder's Map. He searched tirelessly, down by the Greenhouses, the Forbidden Forest, Dumbledore's office, even the Library; everywhere. Where James neglected to look, by no fault of his own, were the Hufflepuff dormitories.

The first time Sirius met Felicity he had been sneaking down to the kitchens in the black of night. When he arrived she was looking out of the same ground floor window she had been not three hours ago. Her long auburn hair was free of any bonds and she was in pale yellow pyjamas with little honey pots on them, and her feet were bare. He was caught off guard by this random stranger, and tried to creep through the shadows silently, never taking his eyes off the girl. Unfortunately, he was the least quiet of his peers and knocked a portrait of Newt Scamander (the famous magizooligist) off the wall, which in turn resulted in Mr Scamander scolding him quite brutally. The moonlit girl spun to see the source of the noise, took in Sirius tangled in his robes on the floor, and Newton hollering curses and hexes, a few of which would have (if actually cast) resulted in Sirius becoming a buck-toothed bat with body odour problems. And she laughed. For about a minute, both Sirius and the portrait sat in stunned silence as this girl with freckles on her nose and honey pots on her clothes bent over and laughed like nothing had ever been funnier. The two wizards looked at each other, then one another and collected themselves. Sirius placed Mr Scamander back on the wall and untangled his robes, by which time the young Hufflepuff had stopped giggling. To Sirius' surprise, Newt spoke to her. "Really, Felicity, it wasn't that funny." he grumbled, to which she replied, grinning, "Oh, yes it was, Newton and you know it." The old Hufflepuff's lined face broke into a reluctant smile and nodded slowly. "It was a bit, wasn't it?" Then he turned to Sirius and apologized before nodding off back to sleep. The Hufflepuff, Felicity, now turned to Sirius. "You're going to the kitchens, aren't you?" Sirius nodded. "You tickle the pear." she smiled, and skipped back off to a bunch of barrels at the end of the corridor. He stared after he in surprise. Just walking down here he had been trying to recall whether to tickle the pear, or put tinsel on the papaya. He wondered how she knew. Looking back, Felicity saw she was being watched, and grinned devilishly. "If you think I'm going to give the password to the Common Rooms whilst you gawk at me (at which Sirius shut his unconsciously opened mouth), you've got another thing coming." He grinned at her, took in her smile one more time and then bolted off to the kitchens. He stopped in front of the tapestry, glanced back, and for a second saw a flash of auburn hair disappear behind the barrels.


	2. Chapter 2: Love Potion No 9

**Love Potion No# 9**

**Hello again! Sorry about the practically criminal wait, my friends! I don't own Harry Potter (if I did I would not be sitting in a public library, but my own private one), the song for which this chapter is named or the any of the Muggle confectionary companies/bands mentioned. If the incorporation of one of my own characters displeases you in any way then I am not sorry and I warned you at the beginning. It is through your own ridiculous fault you have clicked on my story. To **_**Messie23**_** and **_**icecatfire**_** I hope you enjoy this chapter, and thank you for following! ENJOY! **

The loudest scream that anyone had ever had the displeasure of hearing rang through the castle. It bounced off the flagstones and ricocheted off the suits of armour. It even reached all the way up to the astronomy tower. Later a class of Slytherins who had a midnight would speak of it as "the high-pitched wail of a dragon in labour". Dozens of teachers scattered around the castle, frantically searching for the source, but nothing was found…until Professor McGonagall quite unexpectedly found the Room of Requirement with its door wide open, surrounded by large flags and alarm bells. Its hollering occupant wished for someone to find him, and find him they did. Severus Snape, hanging by his school cloak from atop an extremely tall and threateningly crooked pile of junk, hid ears transfigured into a donkey's and his wand hovering suspiciously just out of reach. He was desperately grasping for it (in response it would fly lithely out of the way) when the Head of Gryffindor house stood looking flabbergasted at the entire, endless room she could swear was most certainly _not _there yesterday. Quickly charms were performed, Snape was returned to the ground, his ears returned to normal and wand given back. Dumbledore came swishing along the hallway, multiple layers of cloth billowing out behind him, to calm the distraught Slytherin. He offered Snape a peculiar looking Muggle sweet (something akin to a Mars Bar) before the boy stormed off angrily, sending at least three Hogwarts' portraits flying over the Professors' heads. The Headmaster turned to the flustered female Professor and smiled, offering her the chocolaty sweet in sympathy. Yet only a few feet away, hidden by a large stone column and invisibility cloak, three boys sat silently cackling at the flushed greasy-haired student that stormed past them, oblivious to their presence.

Sirius found Felicity covered in soil head to toe, clothing ripped and with an extremely large grin on her face. She'd been down at the Green Houses for most of the afternoon, far longer than for a normal class. Sirius had been waiting in as a shaggy black dog for her in the gardens, peeking in through that window, to look for her in the crowd of Hufflepuffs returning from class, only to find she wasn't there. He had finally given up and asked (as a human) where he would be able to find her. Felicity looked up into his face, squinting against the sun. There was only the two of them in Greenhouse 3 (no chatty mouths), so he leant down and wiped a large chunk of mud from her face, smiling. She stood up and he held her close, breathing in her earthy smell. Sirius looked down at the humming what-seemed-to-be-a-bean-plant-but-probably-wasn't , cocking his head. "What's that?" he murmured into the Hufflepuff's head. Felicity turned around to face her project and grinned.

"Oh that?" she asked mischievously, clearing enjoying the attention he gave her work. "That is my new species." The Gryffindor stepped away, but left his hands on her arms.

"New species?" he probed, wariness in his eyes. Felicity saw it and dropped the coy act.

"Don't worry, it's nothing dangerous." she reassured him, "just a bit of cross breeding and tweaking. Look." She took Sirius by the hand and led him over to the plant, where they sat down. The little plant swayed softly, but there was no breeze. It looked like an ordinary bean plant, except the stalk was smaller than usual and the beans and leaves themselves were larger. As the soil-covered Hufflepuff got closer to it, the plant seemed to sense her presence, lift one of its larger leaves and…waved? Sirius was intrigued, impressed and kind of creeped out at the same time. Felicity held her wand over the pot in which the plant had its roots and murmured "Agumenti", bathing the dirt in cool, clear water. At this, the little plant began to rhythmically sway and hum a slow tune. They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the bean's song until it had drunk all the water and resumed its relaxed movement and occasional waving.

"What _is _it?" Sirius asked again; he'd never seen anything like it.

"_Wish You Were Here, _by Pink Floyd. Technology doesn't work around Hogwarts so I decided to come up with an alternative…"

"No, not that- the bean-y thing."

"Oh, I call them _Alitis Siliquis_; it's Latin for 'winged pods'. The beans can cure deep wounds, not unlike dittany, and flying using these leaves," she pointed to the large, pale yellow foliage above the beans, "when they're ready for eating. Neat, huh?" And it was neat, but Sirius was distracted.

"'Them'?" he asked. Felicity nodded.

"Yeah, well I had to start somewhere."

"I think this might be a tiny bit-"

"It's not illegal." she cut in. "I checked with Professor Sprout. This plant has been created using other with only harmless personalities and medicinal properties." He could tell she was hurt by his hesitance, but trying to cover it up; almost effectively too. But Sirius had paid too much attention to how she behaved and lifted her off the ground in a hug, chuckling.

"It's pretty damn brilliant." he told her truthfully. "I could never do that." Felicity leaned back and looked at him doubtfully. "Okay. I probably could." She giggled. "But I wouldn't have anywhere near the required patience." At this she stood on her tiptoes, kissed his cheek and said, "I know" and ran out of Greenhouse 3 laughing. Sirius followed.

That night the three Gryffindors snuck out of Hogwarts school castle. It was a clear night, and the full moon was plainly visible amongst the stars. Although they couldn't be seen, due to the presence of an invisibility cloak, a small rustling could be seen in the grass. The trails of their faint footprints lead all the way to a large, constantly moving gnarled tree that had been brought in several years ago at the arrival of their fourth friend, whom they were off to see now. Once inside the secret tunnel to the Shrieking Shack and sending Peter on ahead as their brave rodent scout, James' mind turned to conversation.

"So, Sirius…" he began, hissing the 'so' through his teeth. "A little owl told me you've been meeting a little Hufflepuff lassie around the Greenhouses." He saw his friend try to hide the tension that rippled through his body by laughing, but James saw it.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Prongsie."

"All I'm saying, my friend," replied James, as if not listening and slapping a hand on Sirius' back-hard, "is just be careful. I smell something fishy about her." Padfoot cocked his head in a very puppy like fashion, frowning and giving a look that plainly said 'duh'.

"James?"

"I'm actually being serious, Sirius." he said, straight face breaking into a grin at the pun, "My deer little nose (at this next pub Padfoot rolled his eyes) might not be as powerful as your shaggy snoz, but have you actually smelt this girl?" Sirius went to say something aggressively, but stopped and frowned.

"She always smells of dirt or honey." he said, smiling a little but quickly regressing to a troubled expression once more. He looked at James. "She's never really smelt fully human." The two friends stared at each other until James shrugged.

"Moony didn't turn out too bad- just use protection." James winked and ran off down the earthy tunnel smirking, but inwardly worrying incessantly.


	3. Chapter 3: Just Cannot Bear It

**Just Cannot Bear It **

**I do not own Harry Potter or any of the Muggle companies/groups/things mentioned in this story. If I did I would be living in a Hobbit-like house with a gigantic library and all my author buddies. Oh how we would laugh… Uh…anyway…here's chapter three…**

Felicity grinned and felt her stomach flutter when she saw Sirius striding towards her, and then adopted a confused expression when he began to sniff around her forcefully-in broad daylight. They never really were together in plain view of everyone, and a first public sighting beginning with sniffing made them both look a bit weird.

"Sirius," she hissed, trying to smile reassuringly at her classmates, "what in Merlin's name are you doing?"

He held her firmly by the arms.

"Why don't you smell human?" he asked - no, demanded. At this Felicity blushed much more than she would've liked to and pulled him outside. He repeated the question almost all the way down Greenhouse 3. Once inside she turned on him, fierceness flashing in her eyes.

"Just _what do you think you're doing?_" she growled, at which Sirius retreated a few steps, hands elevated in defence, but not backing down.

"Just tell me the truth!" he replied with a hint of desperation in his voice. But she couldn't tell him. He'd tell others – or at least his friends. And they would either laugh at her and Sirius would hate her or turn her in and…yes, Sirius would probably hate her. He certainly wouldn't be seen with her in public again. _But would he? _a small voice said. _After all you've done together? He loves you. _She shook her head. No. He didn't love her. Did he? It was too much for her. She swung around to leave, leave him standing there with his questions and presumptions; leave him by himself and his _own _secrets. But in the midst of her swing, her leg hit the closest table, knocking it and its contents to the ground – including her _Alitis Siliquis_ tumbling to the ground. The humble clay pot her pride and joy had lived in shattered, the roots spilling out like severed limbs, the fragile little bean plant waving sadly as it died. Felicity fell to her knees and cradled the tangle of stalks gently, tears falling onto the pale yellow leaves that had once wagged so happily at her presence. Sirius sat down quietly next to her and a long sigh escaped his mouth; choked and sad. There was silence for a time.

"I'm so, so sorry, Puff." he said, placing a hand hesitantly on her shoulder. She figured there was no point in keeping secrets. He'd find out sooner or later, now that he'd caught her scent. She couldn't even exit a building without messing something up, for God's sake.

"I'm an Animagus." she deadpanned. Sirius' mouth dropped open with a pop.

"What?"

"A bear." she said, again without expression, gently untangling the twisted stalks of her brain child.

"Sorry, what?" he asked again. She placed down the plant, turned to face him and placed two hands on his shoulders, looking him dead in the eye.

"Sirius Black, I am an Animagus. I have been for a year now. I take the same form as my Patronus, which you have seen on several occasions; a bear. A big, fluffy, bear. My distinguishing feature is that my fur is not brown, but the same auburn of my hair. I decided to become an Animagus after my father was brutally murdered by a werewolf when I was ten. I wanted to protect myself. Granted, it took a while. But here I am. That is why I don't smell human. That's why I sometimes eat raw fish and smell afterwards. That is why I always creep out the other animals in my dorm. I. Am. A. Bear."

He sat stock still, mouth still gaping. Finally, after shaking him several times he snapped back into focus.

"W-well done." he choked out. She laughed in surprise at his reaction, expecting revulsion or mockery. But she was truly shocked when he went on to say, "me too".

That night, Sirius led Felicity down to the Forbidden Forest. She was a little hesitant about disobeying the rules, but when Sirius reminded her about being an unregistered Animagus, she gave in. He wanted to see the whole 'my girlfriend is a bear' thing in action. They ran under the cover of darkness (he wasn't prepared to ask James for the invisibility cloak right now) and flew deep into the woods. The darkness swallowed them like water and eventually they had to light their wands to see their feet. Finally, they came to a small clearing where the moon (not full at the moment) fell white onto the grass below. He led her by the hand into the middle of the brightness.

"Okay, Puff," he told her, "show us you're stuff." She sighed - half amused, half embarrassed - and shook her head. Within seconds, the slight, freckled Hufflepuff, Felicity Finlas, his girlfriend, an aspiring experimental gardener, had transformed into a medium-sized, auburn coloured bear; she even had a few dark freckles across her muzzle. Her large, dark eyes looked towards Sirius – almost the same as normal, but larger and wilder. Without a word, he took his canine form and walked coyly up to her, sniffing her nose, which was about an inch above his. Playfully, he nipped at her ear. She responded by gently biting his neck. They continued in this fashion until they were almost brawling, neither one hurting the other, but seeming extremely violent. That was when a large stag followed by a tall sandy-haired student with a rat in his pocket emerged charging from the trees.

A large, silver wolf exploded from Remus' wand, and James ran head first into Felicity, knocking her to the ground, far away from Sirius. Peter tried to help, but failed even when he was human again and simply staggered to the side of the clearing due to the speed of his transformation. Sirius leapt upon Remus with enough force to knock him over then threw himself against James, ending up in front of a now human Felicity, growling ferociously. Felicity laid panting and bleeding behind him, already trying to stand up and reaching for her wand. Upon seeing she was not, in fact, trying to kill Sirius and that she was, instead, this mysterious Hufflepuff his friend seemed to be dating, James reverted back to his own spectacled, untidy self with a look of sincere apology on his face.

"I'm sorry, Sirius!" he said, hands up in surrender. The black dog growled menacingly and hunched lower to the ground. "I swear, we didn't know!" James went on. "We had the window open and you were gone and Moony and Wormtail smelt your scent on the wind mixed with bear and we feared the worst so we came running." Sirius backed off a little bit. James stepped forward and repeated quietly, "I swear, Sirius." At this, his friend relaxed and resumed his human-ness, turned and helped Felicity steady herself and wrapped his arms around her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, voice trembling with emotion. She nodded, giving him a tiny grin.

"Good to see your friends have got your back." she grinned. Sirius didn't smile back. Instead, he began muttering healing charms over her cuts and bruises. James approached his best friend, Remus and Peter trailing behind. He met Felicity's eyes with an earnest look.

"Honestly, I am so sorry." She grinned again and held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you." He took it, surprised. "I'm his girlfriend." She said, cocking her head in Padfoot's direction. James turned to face the now silent friend.

"Oh, I like her."

Felicity grinned at him.


End file.
